KLM-Martinair Cargo has cut back its Africa flights for the 2025 summer season. The Dutch airline stopped all trips to Harare and reduced weekly flights to Johannesburg and Nairobi from five to three. Their big Boeing 747 cargo planes no longer land in Zimbabwe at all. The company made these changes because very few goods moved through Harare airport, plus they faced constant repair and support problems there.
Tiger Freight boss Pim de Wit discussed the many problems they had with Harare flights. He mentioned that two-day delays happened often, schedules kept changing, and flights got canceled at the last minute. All these issues made regular service almost impossible for customers who needed their goods moved on time. The airline decided it made more business sense to leave Zimbabwe completely.
The company has shifted its focus to places where business keeps growing fast. Many planes that once flew to Africa and Latin America have moved to handle packages between China and Europe instead. The e-commerce boom created huge demand on these routes. Flights to Hong Kong through Dubai increased to six every week because these trips bring in much more money.
Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo spokesman Gerard Roelfzema explained the airline's tough situation. Not many goods need to go south into Africa, but plenty of fresh products must travel from Africa to Europe and the Middle East. He said the airline still cares about African business and will keep some cargo planes flying to Johannesburg and Nairobi, plus use space on regular passenger flights.
Zimbabwe shipping companies must find new ways to move goods abroad after losing this major cargo service. Tiger Freight has already started looking at different options. They might partner with Ethiopian Airlines to first fly goods from Harare to Addis Ababa and then connect to Europe from there. For their part, Air France continues running its regular cargo flights without changes from the winter schedule.
Tiger Freight boss Pim de Wit discussed the many problems they had with Harare flights. He mentioned that two-day delays happened often, schedules kept changing, and flights got canceled at the last minute. All these issues made regular service almost impossible for customers who needed their goods moved on time. The airline decided it made more business sense to leave Zimbabwe completely.
The company has shifted its focus to places where business keeps growing fast. Many planes that once flew to Africa and Latin America have moved to handle packages between China and Europe instead. The e-commerce boom created huge demand on these routes. Flights to Hong Kong through Dubai increased to six every week because these trips bring in much more money.
Air France-KLM-Martinair Cargo spokesman Gerard Roelfzema explained the airline's tough situation. Not many goods need to go south into Africa, but plenty of fresh products must travel from Africa to Europe and the Middle East. He said the airline still cares about African business and will keep some cargo planes flying to Johannesburg and Nairobi, plus use space on regular passenger flights.
Zimbabwe shipping companies must find new ways to move goods abroad after losing this major cargo service. Tiger Freight has already started looking at different options. They might partner with Ethiopian Airlines to first fly goods from Harare to Addis Ababa and then connect to Europe from there. For their part, Air France continues running its regular cargo flights without changes from the winter schedule.
